NATIONAL GOLF CLUB OF LOUISIANA
Hurricane Laura and Delta golf course update
Hello National Golf Club of Louisiana Golfers!
Like most all of us in Southwest Louisiana, we have been busy digging out of the extensive damage that Hurricane Laura and Delta have left behind. The course did get hit hard, and has left us with the task of restoring the course back to quality playing conditions. Damage to the course included the loss of over 1,000 trees, damage to several of our greens, the removal of tons of debris, and the need for repairing literally all of our bunkers.
The Company that managed the tree removal has to date done an outstanding job, and while we still have over 350 stumps that need to be removed, the trees are for the most part gone. Our maintenance team has worked hard at restoring our greens and we have made substantial progress on returning the greens to good overall playing conditions. Tons of debris have been removed from the course, and our bunkers have had all debris and silt removed and most of the physical damage has been repaired. We still will have to go through the process of refilling all of our bunkers to the proper sand depth, and that will be ongoing over the next few months. Additionally, we do have some damage to our temporary clubhouse, but are planning on providing limited temporary service while we continue to work on repair to this area of the Club.
We still have much detail work that needs to be done. Small debris – sticks, pine needles, pine cones, shingles, etc. – still needs to be removed before we can begin mowing regularly. This is where we are hopeful some of you may be able to help us out. For the past few days and every evening through next Wednesday, we would appreciate your volunteer time to help move this small debris. We are asking for those of you who can assist to the course from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. with a rake, shovel, hoe, and gloves and we’ll show you where you can assist us. It’s hard, tedious work, but with volunteer help we can get this done, and get everyone back to enjoying golf at the National! (Note that the mosquitos have been very bad, but seem to be better since planes are spraying but definitely come prepared with mosquito spray and cover all your skin with long pants and long sleeves.)
With the help of our volunteers, the plan is for us to re-open for play starting Friday, October 30th. We ask that you reserve your tee time with on-line reservations starting this Monday, October 26th. Starting Thursday, October 29th, we will open our temporary pro shop to limited service, and will once again be taking phone reservations at that time. Be aware that there will be times during the weekdays where you may encounter stump removal, cleanup, re-filling of the traps, and some repairs in the Clubhouse. But, we think you will all agree a round of golf with these inconveniences is much better than what we have gone through these past few months.
On a positive note, the new Clubhouse did overall very well during the storms. There is some damage that is being addressed by the contractor. Because of this, the opening of the facility will be pushed back. We are still waiting on the establishment of a new construction schedule, and will communicate our plans in the near future.
While the course looks a little baron with the tree removal, we will long term be working on a plan for ongoing replacement of important trees that have been lost. A few strategically placed trees can go a long way on restoring the layout of our great golf course.
We are excited to re-open, and remind you that upon re-opening we will continue to encourage COVID-19 safety and ask that you wear a mask when entering the pro-shop and social distance with 6’ spacing in and around areas where you gather. We also will be sharing golf carts when we reopen and remind everyone that we do have the cart cloth that hangs between passengers available for every cart to help with your safety while playing.
Thank you so much for your continued patronage and support at The National Golf Club of Louisiana. We are working diligently to make sure our course lives up to the high standards that we’ve come to enjoy when we reopen for play. We are excited about the future that lies ahead for the National Golf Club of Louisiana with the continued restoration of the golf course and the opening of our new Clubhouse and Restaurant in 2021.
Hoping to see each of you very soon back out at the course.
Thanks again.
Dave Kaspar, Director of Golf
Gerry Pockat, General Manager
PS: The golf shop phones are set right now to ring straight to voice mail, leave me a message for a return call if you have any questions.
